Domingo Leyba is playing third base tonight as the Orioles open a three-game series in Houston. Maikel Franco and Anthony Santander are on the bench. Austin Hays is in right field and batting second, Ryan McKenna is in left and Ramón Urías is playing shortstop. Pat Valaika gets the start at second base. Urías has a seven-game hitting streak that was interrupted by his return to Triple-A Norfolk. He's 8-for-16 with a double, home run and six RBIs during the streak. Leyba went 0-for-4...

Tickets for the 2021 Orioles Hall of Fame luncheon, honoring shortstop J.J. Hardy, outfielder Mike Devereaux, broadcaster Joe Angel, and superfan Mo Gaba, are now on sale. The inductees will be guests at a luncheon at Oriole Park at Camden Yards sponsored by the Oriole Advocates, founders of the Orioles Hall of Fame, on Friday, August 6, at 12:00 p.m. ET, as well as during an on-field ceremony prior to the Orioles game on Saturday, August 7, against the Tampa Bay Rays. Tickets for the luncheon...

And so begins the closing stretch of the first half of the 2021 season, a stretch that will test the Nationals unlike any that have come before. Fourteen games in 14 days, all against contending teams. It begins tonight with a one-off against the Mets, another makeup from the season-opening series that was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The great mystery for the last 24 hours has been the identity of the Nats' starting pitcher tonight. This should've been Erick Fedde's game, but...

Here's what the Nationals accomplished over the last two weeks: By winning 11 of 14 games, they climbed their way out of a significant hole, briefly reached the .500 mark and moved into sole possession of second place in the National League East, now within striking distance of the first-place Mets. It was the best two-week stretch this club has experienced since the end of the 2019 season, a true turnaround for a team that looked ready to collapse altogether and head into a long, hot summer...

When play begins today in the short-season Rookie-level Florida Complex League (the former Gulf Coast League), the Orioles will have two teams beginning play to join the four full-season affiliates that have been playing since May 4 on the farm. In July, the O's will field two teams in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League. The two Complex League teams will feature a very, very heavy international flavor that will include 12 players that were part of the Orioles' first international...

The calls for Jahmai Jones grew louder over the weekend after Freddy Galvis limped off the field Saturday afternoon, the severity of his quadriceps injury written on his face. The pain and anguish, the attempts to fight back tears as he rode a cart to the auxiliary tent and later was placed in a vehicle - needing assistance just to sit down - for the ride to a nearby hospital. Fans want Jones in the majors and they want him now. Armchair general managers spew insults from their foaming...

The roster churn that presents one of the defining qualities of the Orioles' 2021 season freshened the lineup this morning and expanded the bench. It could not, however, improve the won-lost record. Jorge López threw 100 pitches in 4 2/3 innings, the third time through the order bruising him in the fifth, and the Blue Jays won 5-2 in Buffalo to claim the series. The Orioles are 24-54 and have lost 22 of 23 road games as they board their flight to Houston. López was done after Cavan...

There are any number of reasons you can point to for why the Nationals have won or lost a ballgame this season, but here's a simple one to consider: When they hit a home run, they usually win. When they don't, they usually don't. And when they clear the fence twice in the same inning, as they did today during a 5-1 win over the Marlins? Well, that's about as good a piece of evidence as you'll get to foretell a Nats victory. Trea Turner and Josh Bell provided the big blows in this one, each...

Erick Fedde felt nothing during his start Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia. But when the Nationals right-hander woke up Thursday morning in Miami, his left side was bothering him. The club told him to take it easy, and he didn't attempt to throw his typical bullpen session between starts. And after an MRI revealed what manager Davey Martinez called "a minor strain of his left oblique," Fedde was placed on the 10-day injured list this morning. It's the latest blow to a Nationals rotation...

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde anticipates that shortstop Freddy Galvis will miss one to two months of the season with a strained right quadriceps muscle, an injury sustained yesterday in the second inning while running out a bunt single. Galvis was placed on the injured list within a flurry of roster activity earlier today. "It's in between a Grade 1 to a Grade 2, so more like a Grade 1-plus," Hyde said in his Zoom call with the media. "Hoping for the four to six weeks. Could be a little bit...